New commercial vehicle demand across the European Union (EU) in March this year was down for the 15th consecutive month, with a year-on-year decrease of 9.8 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). New commercial vehicle registrations in the EU in March totaled 166,402 units, as a downturn prevailed across most of the major markets, with decreases of 10.2 percent in France, 18.5 percent in Germany, 20.2 percent in Spain and 20.3 percent in Italy, all year on year. The UK was the only market to post year-on-year growth in March, up 7.7 percent.
In the first quarter of this year, a total of 401,838 new commercial vehicles were registered in the EU-27, or down 11 percent from the same period a year ago. Looking at new registrations in the major markets in the EU-27 region in the first quarter of the year, the UK market expanded by 6.6 percent, while the French market remained the largest market, despite a 10.7 percent year-on-year contraction. In the first quarter of this year, new registrations in Germany fell by 16.4 percent, while in Spain a 18.7 percent contraction was seen, both year on year. Italy recorded a more severe year-on-year drop of 25 percent.
In the first quarter of the current year, new heavy commercial vehicle registrations in the EU declined by 16.7 percent to 46,985 units, while new light commercial vehicle registrations dropped by 9.9 percent to 332,473 units, both compared to January-March 2012. In the period in question, the EU registered a 16.8 percent year-on-year drop in registrations of new trucks to 62,154. In the meantime, new bus and coach registrations fell by 7.4 percent compared to the same period of the previous year, amounting to 7,211 vehicles.